Chris Oliver Leaves Council | Joint meeting of the NPFMC and IPHC | Thanks to the CDQ Groups | Appointments | 2016 Annual Report | Fixed-gear Lead Level 2 Observer Analysis | IFQ Leasing by CDQ Groups | BSAI YFS TLA Limited Entry | Halibut Abundance-based PSC Management | Squid Reclassification | Crab Management | Research Priorities | AFA and Non-AFA Small Sideboard Elimination | Tanner Crab Protection Measures in the Central Gulf of Alaska | Allocation Review Triggers | Social Science Planning Team | Staff Tasking | Call for Nominations | Upcoming Meetings
Chris Oliver Leaves Council
After 27 years working for the NPFMC – 15 of them as Executive Director – Chris Oliver is headed to Washington DC. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, with concurrence from the White House, selected Oliver as the new Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries. Coming from Texas A&M, Oliver joined
the Council in 1990 as a fisheries biologist, and was promoted to Deputy Director after only 2 years. Choosing to forgo a traditional going-away party during his last meeting, a short portion of the B reports was set aside for acknowledgment, recognition and appreciation for Oliver’s dedication and service to the
sustainability of fishery resources, and for being a great leader, mentor, and friend. David Witherell provided a slideshow that highlighted many of Oliver’s accomplishments and interests. He was presented with the Meritorious Public Service Award from the USCG as well as plaques of appreciation from
NMFS and the Council for his outstanding service. The audience replied with an extended standing ovation. Good luck in your new role, Chris. You will be missed.
Because of the abbreviated send-off, staff is encouraging people to write down well-wishes, congratulations, and memories which will be collected and combined in a book for Chris to privately read at his leisure. Send an email, attach a PDF, include your favorite Chris photos, or use the attached form.
You can email your submission to maria.shawback@noaa.gov.
Joint meeting of the NPFMC and IPHC
The Council meet jointly with the IPHC on June 8 to discuss several issues of mutual concern. Status reports were given on specific management actions and research priorities, and views of individual members were expressed. The Council noted that occasional meetings with the IPHC can be useful when focused on specific issues directly related to halibut management, while recognizing the respective management authorities of each agency. The Council further requested that the Executive Director and Chair explore ways to improve dialog with the IPHC in the future by examining the communication and collaborate process used by other international commissions and domestic fishery management bodies.
Thanks to the CDQ Groups
Participating CDQ groups hosted a dinner during the Council week. Crab, halibut, sablefish, shrimp and oysters were prepared perfectly, and enhanced by fresh, homemade salads and desserts. The dinner provided a great opportunity for those involved in the Council process to relax in a beautiful setting, enjoy superb food, and engage in lively conversation. Many thanks to all the volunteers who took time to grill, cook, bake and arrange this event for the public and the Council family. We truly appreciate the efforts by the five CDQ groups and their respective staff, and in particular, Heather McCarty and Angel Drobnika, for their efforts in organizing this very special and successful event
Appointments
The Council made many Plan Team appointments at this meeting. Teresa A’mar, currently at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center as an Operations Research Analyst and Nathaniel Nichols of ADFG in Kodiak as an Area Management Biologist have been appointed to the Groundfish Plan Team. Mike Byerly and John Olson have been appointed to the Scallop Plan Team. Byerly is a Groundfish Research Biologist for ADFG in Homer, and Olson is Marine Habitat Resource Specialist for NMFS in Anchorage. Krista Milani has been appointed to the BSAI Crab Plan Team and is currently a Resource Management Specialist for NMFS in Juneau. Also to the Crab Plan Team, an 11-month acting appointment was made for Katie Palof (filling in for Laura Slater) of ADFG in Juneau who is the Southeast Region Shellfish Biometrician. Welcome all to the Plan Teams!
Nicole Kimball, Abigail Turn, and Dennis Jaszka and Brett Iwataki (occupying a shared position) have been appointed to the Observer Advisory Committee. The Council is soliciting for a western GOA trawl representative.
John Abel was selected as the 3A representative for the Charter Halibut Management Committee. The Council continues soliciting for a 2C representative from one of the smaller communities to complement representation from Juneau and Sitka.
Council member Theresa Peterson will Co-Chair the Ecosystem Committee along with Bill Tweit.
2016 Annual Report
The Council reviewed the 2016 Annual Report for the North Pacific Observer Program, and made recommendations for the 2018 Annual Deployment Plan (ADP), which will be developed over the summer. The Annual Report provides a scientific evaluation of the deployment of observers in 2016, to assess whether the objectives of the Observer Program have been met. The report also includes descriptive information on the program, including enforcement trends and outreach efforts, and agency recommendations. The Council commended the agency on the Annual Report, and the ability it provides
to adjust and improve the program.
For 2018, the Council supports continuing with current observer deployment by gear strata (pot, longline, and trawl), but has asked for an evaluation of whether to continue separate strata by gear type for vessels delivering their catch to tender vessels. The Council has also asked for an evaluation of equal coverage deployment designs up to a baseline level of coverage, as a comparison to the 2017 method of optimizing allocation among gear types and strata based on discards and prioritizing PSC-limited fisheries. These options will be analyzed and included in the draft 2018 ADP, for Council review in October.
Pending final Secretary of Commerce approval, the 2018 ADP will be the first year to include a fully implemented electronic monitoring (EM) program. The Council already provided a recommendation in April 2017 to expand the EM pool in 2018 if funding permits. In June, the Council noted that if funding is insufficient, the ADP should prioritize longline vessels, whose data will be used for inseason management in 2018; vessels that are already equipped with EM systems; and small vessels where carrying an observer is problematic. In October, the Council will also review a preliminary methodology for splitting the
observer fee among observer and EM pools; for 2018, EM will continue to operate on transition funding from NMFS, but beginning in 2019, will be paid for from the observer fee revenue.
In the enforcement chapter, the Annual Report identifies that there has been an increase in Observer Program complaints with respect to priority issues of safety and creating a hostile work environment. The Council is concerned about this trend, and encourages industry to work with the NMFS Office of Law
Enforcement and observer providers to proactively engage in education and outreach. The Council also requested two changes for future Annual Reports. Beginning with the 2017 fishing year, the Council would the report to evaluate whether there is evidence of an observer effect for pelagic trawl versus nonpelagic trawl fisheries, rather than evaluating all trawl trips in aggregation. Additionally, the Council would like the reports to track progress toward estimating variance of catch and bycatch.
The Council continues to be concerned about the levels of funding for the partial coverage observer program, and resulting low sampling rates. In addition to tasking the Observer Advisory Committee to look at options to increase sampling within existing means (see observer project tasking article), the Council will request supplemental funding from NMFS to alleviate funding shortfalls and increase observer days for 2018. The Council also appreciates the opportunity to provide input to the Statement of Work for the next partial coverage observer provider contract, which is being developed by NOAA’s Acquisition and Grants Office, during the October Council meeting.
Observer project tasking, including discussion of low sampling rates and tendering
The Council reviewed the prioritized list of analytical projects related to the Observer Program, and agreed with Observer Advisory Committee (OAC) recommended changes. , the Council approved prioritizing work on two specific projects: options to address low sampling rates in partial coverage, and a
scoping of data concerns and potential solutions related to vessels delivering to tenders.
- Low sampling rates: The Council endorsed the OAC’s recommendation to form a subgroup over the summer, to identify short- and long-term options that could address low sampling rates in partial coverage. The subgroup will meet by email and teleconference, and will consider whether there are short-term options that can be addressed through changes to the deployment design (e.g., through the Annual Deployment Plan); what, if any, options require changes to the partial coverage contract that should be brought into a draft Statement of Work for the revised contract; and longer-term solutions that may involve regulatory change.
- Tendering: The Council asked staff to develop a scoping paper that identifies the separate data concerns related to vessels delivering to tenders (e.g., whether they are concerns of observed vessels fishing in a manner that is unrepresentative of those that are not observed, or whether delivering to a tender is affecting sampling of salmon bycatch.) The paper should then link these concerns with solutions that have been evaluated, are being implemented in 2017, or have been suggested as possible. Staff will work with industry groups to vet these and other potential solutions.
Staff contact is Diana Evans. The Council is soliciting for a representative of the western GOA trawl fleet to become a member of the Observer Advisory Committee. The OAC’s next meeting is tentatively scheduled for September 19-20, in Seattle. If you are interested, please contact Diana Evans at the Council office (907-271-2815 or diana.evans@noaa.gov) by July 28, 2017.
Fixed-gear Lead Level 2 Observer Analysis
The Council took final action to recommend a regulatory change expanding the ways that an eligible observer can qualify to become a fixed gear lead level 2 (LL2) observer. This action is intended to address the potential for a shortage of fixed-gear LL2 observers for deployment on freezer longline vessels, or other fixed gear vessels with a LL2 requirement. The majority of freezer longline vessels operate under monitoring requirements that require them to have at-sea scales and carry a single LL2 observer onboard at all times when the Pacific cod fishery is open in the BSAI. Vessel owners and observer coverage providers have reported challenges with LL2 observer availability, the consequence of which can be that the vessel has to delay fishing (with attendant cost).
The Council’s preferred alternative would allow sampling experience on trawl catcher processors to count toward qualifying for a fixed gear LL2 endorsement, with the addition of a fixed-gear-specific training class. This alternative would open the number of eligible observers available to deploy on freezer longline vessels, while ensuring that the vessels continue to be monitored by experienced observers. Staff contact is Diana Evans.
IFQ Leasing by CDQ Groups
The Council took final action to approve a regulatory amendment that would allow CDQ groups the opportunity to lease Area 4B, 4C, and 4D halibut IFQ in years where the catch limits are below certain thresholds. In Area 4B, this option would become available to the groups if the catch limit was 1 million pounds or lower. This option would be available for Area 4C and 4D when the catch limit in Area 4CDE was at or below 1.5 million pounds. Leased IFQ would be available to vessels less than or equal to 51 feet length overall, subject to the groups’ internal management. This action would not convert IFQ to CDQ. Vessels harvesting leased halibut IFQ would follow all halibut IFQ regulations (e.g. vessel use caps) with one exception. Area 4D IFQ that is leased by a CDQ group (catcher vessel IFQ as well as class A IFQ), would be permitted to be fished in Area 4E.
The Council also added some restrictive provisions into this amendment in order to mitigate adverse impacts on other IFQ stakeholders and the QS market. Specifically, the Council adopted an option intended to prevent individuals from buying QS with the sole intention of leasing it. This provision would not allow an individual to lease IFQ within the first three years after they have acquired it. Also, in an effort to discourage the reliance on the leasing of Area 4 QS, a QS holder may not lease halibut IFQ on a consecutive basis for more than two years. Finally, eligibility to lease Area 4B IFQ is limited to QS holder that hold less than 7,500 pounds (in 2016 pounds).
The Council intends that IFQ would be leased by non-residents of CDQ communities for use by residents. Thus, in any year that CDQ groups use this additional opportunity, the groups would be required to submit a report specifying the criteria used to select IFQ holders leasing to a CDQ group, the criteria used to determine who can receive leased IFQ, and the amount and type of IFQ leased. In this way, the groups will be able to demonstrate how the benefits from this flexibility are reaching the residents of CDQ communities as intended. Council staff is Sarah Marrinan.
BSAI YFS TLA Limited Entry
At this meeting, the Council took final action to limit access for trawl catcher vessels targeting Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) trawl limited access sector (TLAS) yellowfin sole for delivery of its catch to a mothership or catcher processor. Specifically, the Council is recommending that a catcher vessel may
target the BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole fishery and delivery its catch to a mothership or catcher/processor only if that catcher vessel is assigned an LLP that is credited with at least one trip target landing in the BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole fishery made to a mothership or catcher/processor in any year (Suboption 1.1.1) between 2008-2015 (Option 1.1) as its preferred alternative.
Since the implementation of the TLAS yellowfin sole fishery in 2008, American Fisheries Act (AFA) and non-AFA catcher vessels, AFA catcher processors, floating processors, and Amendment 80 motherships have participated in the TLAS yellowfin sole fishery. In 2015, vessels entered the TLAS yellowfin sole fishery that had no previous participation. Historic participants are concerned about the impact of these new participants of their access to the TLAS yellowfin sole fishery.
The intent of the Council’s recommendation is to address the recent increase in participation in the BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole fishery by reducing fishing pressure in this fishery, which could lengthen the season and reduce halibut PSC. In addition, the Council’s recommendation balances the need to limit entry to control the race for fish in the BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole fishery with the needs of more recent participants in the fishery by continuing to provide opportunities for AFA catcher processors and catcher vessels, and non-AFA catcher vessels, all while limiting the potential spillover effects in other fisheries.
On separate but related issue, during staff tasking, the Council requested an annual report from the AFA and Amendment 80 sectors regarding the formation of a voluntary cooperative or other measures taken to reduce bycatch in the BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole fishery. Staff contact is Jon McCracken.
Halibut Abundance-based PSC Management
The Council reviewed a discussion paper on development of abundance-based approaches for BSAI halibut PSC limits. This builds upon previous work to provide the information necessary for the Council to develop abundance-based PSC limit alternatives for analysis. Following review of some specific aspects of the indices and plans for the next discussion paper, the Council moved to provide additional direction for the expanded discussion paper for October. Specific direction on limiting the set of abundance indices, providing an illustrative starting point and shape of control rule and other directions for inclusion in the paper were provided by the Council motion. The full Council motion is posted on the website. An expanded discussion paper will be provided for the October Council meeting to facilitate selection of alternatives for this abundance-based approach for BSAI PSC limits. The paper will be available by the end of August for review. Staff contact is Diana Stram.
Squid Reclassification
The Council took final action on an EA/RIR/IRFA to reclassify squid species under the BSAI and GOA groundfish fishery management plans. Options for classification and management of non-target stocks under National Standard 1 guidelines for FMPs include identification of the species as “non-target species in need of conservation and management,” or as “non-target ecosystem component species, not in need of conservation and management.” Squid are caught incidentally in the prosecution of directed fishing for other groundfish species and are not the target of any fishery, nor open to target fishing in either the BSAI or GOA. The Council discussed that squid are short-lived, highly productive, and an important prey species, however no conservation concerns exist for squid populations in the BSAI and GOA. Although limited life-history information exists, the best available scientific information suggests that squid
biomass estimates are substantial underestimates of true biomass. The Council moved to designate squid in both BSAI and GOA FMPs as non-target ‘Ecosystem Component Species.’ As such, establishment of OFL, ABC, and TAC will no longer be required and regulations referring to squid as target species will be removed. Additional regulations for the groundfish fishery will be implemented that 1) prohibit directed fishing for squid, 2) establish a squid maximum retainable amount (MRA) when directed fishing for other fisheries at 20% to discourage retention while allowing flexibility to prosecute other fisheries, and 3) require recordkeeping and reporting to monitor and report catch and discards of squid species annually. Staff contact is Diana Stram.
Crab Management
The Council approved SSC OFL and ABC recommendations for 3 BSAI crab stocks and received recommendations from the SSC and the Crab Plan Team on model scenarios and other items taken up at their Spring 2017 Crab Plan Team (CPT) meeting. OFLs and ABCs were established for the Pribilof Island Golden King Crab, Aleutian Island Golden King Crab and Western Aleutian Island Red King Crab stocks. The SSC and CPT also reviewed and made recommendations on model scenarios for snow crab, Bristol Bay Red King Crab, EBS snow crab, and Tanner crab. Final specifications for the six remaining BSAI crab stocks will be made in the fall following incorporation of the summer survey data. The SAFE chapters for the three stocks assessed at this time as well as the Crab Plan Team report are available on the Council’s website. Staff contact is Diana Stram.
Research Priorities
At each June meeting, the Council, in conjunction with its Scientific and Statistical Committee, reviews research that has been identified as relevant for informing near- and long-term management actions. The development of research priorities is a statutory obligation under the Magnuson Stevens Act, and the identified set of priorities applies to the upcoming five-year period; this year’s review will apply to 2018-2022.
At this June Council meeting, existing research priorities were reviewed and their ranking was updated, with the Council’s anticipated management concerns for the upcoming five-year period. Additionally, the status of research was updated to reflect current progress on specific research topics. New research priorities suggested by the Scallop, Crab, and Groundfish Plan Teams as well as the SSC were also reviewed and adopted by the Council. In adding these projects to the existing list, the Council now has a total of 152 active or pending research projects connected to management in the upcoming five-year
period. In accordance with the Magnuson Stevens Act, these compiled priorities will be communicated to the Secretary of Commerce, as well as relevant funding agencies, the AFSC, and the NMFS Regional Office.
The Council also recognized progress in coordinating research needs with the North Pacific Research Board. Council staff will continue to work with NPRB staff to explore ways to integrate the organization and monitoring of research activities. Finally, the Council identified a need to further streamline the annual review process. Prior to next year’s June review, a Council leadership subgroup will develop approaches for improving the efficiency and relevance of the review process within the context of a Council meeting agenda action item. Staff contact is Jim Armstrong.
AFA and Non-AFA Small Sideboard Elimination
The Council at this meeting reviewed a discussion paper examining the potential for using regulations to close directed fishing for species from both American Fisheries Act (AFA) and Crab Rationalization Programs that have sideboard limits that are not large enough to support a directed fishery or for those species that are fully allocated to other programs. The discussion paper originated from the AFA Program review at the February 2017 meeting. As part of that review, NMFS recommended revising regulations to prohibit directed fishing by non-exempt AFA vessels for those species (and any future break-out or combination of these species) where the sideboard limits are not large enough to support a directed fishery. NMFS would then no longer publish AFA sideboard amounts for these species in the annual harvest specifications. At the April 2017 Council meeting, NMFS notified the Council that it would expand the discussion paper to also include an analysis of Crab Rationalization Program sideboards in the Gulf of Alaska that are insufficient to support a directed fishery.
After reviewing the discussion paper, the Council adopted a purpose and need statement and alternatives for analysis. The following is the purpose and need statement:
Many of the sideboards for non-exempt American Fisheries Act (AFA) vessels and Crab Rationalization Program vessels for groundfish species in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska are not opened for directed fishing because the sideboard limits are not large enough to support a directed fishery. Additionally, other sideboards are fully allocated to programs such as the Amendment 80 Program or have no prohibited species catch apportioned to them so therefore NMFS cannot open them to directed fishing. NMFS must annually close these sideboard fisheries to directed fishing through the groundfish harvest specifications. Closing these sideboard fisheries could be simplified administratively by prohibiting directed fishing by regulation. There are also some sideboard limits that may not be required due to other regulatory limits on harvests. The purpose of this action is to simplify the administration of the fisheries by establishing prohibited fishery closures instead of
sideboard limits, or by removing sideboard limits that are no longer required.
The proposed action is to prohibit directed fishing by regulation for all species with insufficient sideboard limits for directed fishing from both AFA and Crab Rationalization Programs, except catcher/processors fishing for Central Aleutian Islands Atka mackerel. A list of the species with insufficient sideboard limits
effected by this action are contained in Tables 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, and 3-1 from June 2017 discussion paper. The Council also included an option to remove the sideboard limit on AFA catcher/processors for Central Aleutian Islands Atka mackerel since the sideboard limit for this fishery is non-constraining. Staff contact is Jon McCracken.
Tanner Crab Protection Measures in the Central Gulf of Alaska
The Council and its Advisory Panel reviewed a discussion paper on the existing protections afforded to Central Gulf of Alaska Tanner crab. Tanner crab in the CGOA are under State management, and the distribution of Tanner crab overlaps, in part, with the Federally-managed CGOA groundfish fisheries. The discussion paper provided a review of the direct and indirect protections for Tanner crab in the CGOA , along with information on the status of the Tanner crab stock and Tanner crab fishery management by the State of Alaska.
The Council requested a discussion paper to review fishing effort for the flatfish trawl fisheries and the pot cod fishery in two statistical areas and Chiniak gully, east of Kodiak. Additionally, the discussion paper will evaluate observer coverage rates for the different sectors and programs that operate in those
areas. Staff contact is Jim Armstrong.
Allocation Review Triggers
In July 2016, NMFS issued a Fisheries Allocation Policy Directive, which describes a mechanism to ensure fisheries allocations are periodically evaluated to ensure that OY is being achieved under current conditions. The policy and directives establish three steps in an allocation review process, with the first step occurring if a review trigger is met. Categories of triggers that can be used by a council to initiate an allocation review: public interest, time, or indicators. The councils are required to identify one or more triggers for each fishery with an allocation that meets the definition contained in the revised policy directive.
At its June meeting, the Council reviewed a discussion paper describing the new requirements for triggering an allocation review. Potential trigger approaches were examined and a list of allocations meeting the definition was developed. Based on this review and input from the AP, the Council adopted the following policy on allocation review triggers, which is posted on the Council website:
The Council identifies three non-LAPP allocations (the Halibut Catch Sharing Plan and the GOA and BSAI Cod Allocations), and LAPPs as subject to the allocation policy directive. The CDQ allocation is not subject to this review. The Council adopts the LAPP review process for meeting the allocation review policy with the necessary modifications to the LAPP review recommended by staff. The Council adopts the 10-year timeframe as the primary trigger criteria for review for non-LAPP allocations, and the existing Council public input process as the secondary trigger criteria for review. The Council will specify its approach to allocation review at final action for any future allocation decisions.
Staff contact is David Witherell.
Social Science Planning Team
The Council formally established a standing advisory body to facilitate and enhance the use of social science data in the management process. The Social Science Planning Team (SSPT) will consist of experts in the fields of anthropology, sociology, economics, and human geography. The SSPT’s core mission is to strategize medium and long-term improvements in data collection and analytical methodology. Efforts related to data collection will encompass both new data collections, and better identification and application of existing sources. The SSPT will identify persistent data needs and information gaps, make recommendations regarding research priorities, and advise analysts’ work on complex projects when practicable. Over time, the SSPT’s efforts should create a network for social scientists working on North Pacific issues that brings new or better information to the policy front, improves uptake of academic work, and enhances the quality of annual reporting documents such as the AFSC’s Economic SAFE. The group’s work will focus on efforts that have applications across multiple North Pacific fishery management programs, FMPs, and geographic areas.
At the outset, SSPT membership will represent NPFMC staff, NMFS AKRO staff, NMFS AFSC staff, and members of the SSC. Membership may be expanded in the future, at the Council’s discretion. The SSPT will hold one in-person meeting annually (targeted for May), and meetings will be open to the public and noticed in the Federal Register. The SSPT chair or a designee will report meeting minutes or a progress summary to the Council and the SSC as requested. Staff contact is Sam Cunningham.
Staff Tasking
In addition to discussing the relative priority of previously tasked projects, the Council initiated new actions and clarified direction and tasking for its various committees. The Council also took the following actions:
- Approved the formation of a Social Science Planning Team.
- Tasked staff to prepare a discussion paper that outlines the steps necessary to allow retention of halibut in pot gear in the BSAI sablefish fishery.
- Tasked staff to prepare a discussion paper that describes best practices for exploratory fishing to inform a precautionary approach to opening commercial fisheries in the Arctic.
- Identified interactions between whales and fisheries as an urgent research priority for review by the groundfish plan teams and SSC.
- Requested that the Executive Director and Chair explore ways to improve dialog with the IPHC by examining the communication and collaborate process used by other international commissions and domestic fishery management bodies.
- Requested annual reports from the AFA and Amendment 80 sectors regarding development of a voluntary cooperative and other bycatch reduction measures in the BSAI TLAS yellowfin sole fishery.
- Directed staff to send letters regarding: 1) conflict of interest recusal determinations; 2) comment letter on Best Scientific Information Available; 3) comment letter on Stock Assessment Improvement Plan; 4) comment letter on the draft Alaska Enforcement Priorities; 5) a request to NMFS for supplementary funds for the observer program; 6) a letter to NMFS and ADF&G requesting assistance in defining self-guided halibut fishermen and creation of a registration system. Motions are posted on the Council website. Staff contact is David Witherell.
Call for Nominations
The Council is soliciting nominations for a member for the Charter Halibut Committee – a 2C representative from one of the smaller communities to complement representation from Juneau and Sitka. Nominations are open until July 31. Please send a letter of interest to steve.maclean@noaa.gov.
The Council is also soliciting for a representative of the western GOA trawl fleet to become a member of the Observer Advisory Committee. The OAC’s next meeting is tentatively scheduled for September 19- 20, in Seattle. If you are interested, please contact Diana Evans at the Council office (907-271-2815 or diana.evans@noaa.gov) by July 28, 2017.
Upcoming Meetings
BSAI and GOA Groundfish Plan Teams: September 12-15, AFSC Seattle
EMWG: September 18, 2017 (tentative) AFSC, Seattle, Traynor Room
Crab Plan Team: September 18-22, AFSC, Seattle,
Observer Advisory Committee: September 19-20, 2017 (tentative) AFSC, Traynor Room